United States | Fighters intercepted two Russian bombers near Alaska

of the United States On Tuesday, F-16 fighters intercepted two Russian warplanes flying in international airspace in the Pacific Ocean near the state of Alaska, according to the North American Air Defense Command Center Norad.

The news agency AFP reported on the matter.

The Russian Tu-95 bombers were scrambled after they “arrived and operated in the Alaska air defense detection zone,” Norad said in a statement.

The air defense identification zone is an area larger than national airspace that is not controlled by international agreements. The purpose of the zone is to help states identify potential threats from air traffic.

According to AFP, the downing of Russian aircraft in the region is relatively common.

Russian The Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday, according to the news agency Reuters, that two of its strategic bombers had completed a more than 12-hour flight over the Pacific, Bering and Okhotsk seas. The ministry did not specify the route of the flight.

According to the ministry, Mig-31 fighters escorted the planes. The ministry described the flight as a “routed flight over neutral waters” in accordance with international airspace rules.

According to Air Defense Command Center Norad, bombers are not considered a threat.

According to Norad, it tracks and identifies foreign military aircraft arriving in the detection zone, and actively monitors the aircraft’s movements and, if necessary, escorts them out of the area, the center’s statement said, according to AFP.

Russia usually holds annual nuclear weapons drills at this time of year, but so far it is unclear whether the presence of the bombers was related to the drills, AFP reports.

On Monday, the military alliance NATO started its annual exercise related to the use of nuclear weapons, Steadfast Noon, which is scheduled to last until the end of October.

Russia is also expected to practice using nuclear weapons around the same time.